Deo volente.

Bush should listen to Larry Kudlow

Folks are very unhappy about Republican management of the war. Voters on the left want an immediate pullout — a terrible idea. People on the right, like me, want to win the war, but the president is not unveiling a truly new victory plan. His own Pentagon just issued a gloomy Iraq report that chronicles near-civil-war sectarian violence and the security problems in that country….But this will not resonate for the election. … It is too late to make this sale.

He’s right. What’s starting to scare me is the lack of a nationalized Republican campaign to get the local politicians elected.

The ACLU Democrats will keep carping about chemical plants, bridges, and tunnels. And Republicans must counter with highly publicized votes on surveillance expansion. This is what stopped the terrorists in the London plot. Folks know this. There’s also the issue of probable-cause warrants, which could delay FISA approval. Crucial days could pass as the government authorities argue needlessly about criminal intent and the matter of detaining suspects for tough-minded interrogation. Republicans must get loud on this front. There also should be no question about the legality and utility of the SWIFT financial tracking program. Or NSA wiretapping of al-Qaeda phone calls to people living in the United States. Or telco data-mining for phone-call patterns here at home.

Bush’s administration repeatedly acts like the crusty veteran who gets the work done (good), but whose myopia is thinking that the job ends where the work does (bad). For what the administration has actually engaged on, they get nearly an A every time, which is true even for the B- they get in Iraq. But what good is it to create Guantanamo if you’re not going to protect it for the tool that it is? What good is it to go after Al Quaeda’s finances with operational success if you give up on the legalistic wranglings that will let the programs continue?

Anyway, Kramer is worth listening to. What’s the use of his having a blog if you’re not going to listen to him?